Difference between revisions of "September 27, 2006"

From LPOD
Jump to: navigation, search
 
(5 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
 
=L99 Captured!=
 
=L99 Captured!=
 +
<!-- Start of content -->
 
<div class="post" id="post-578">
 
<div class="post" id="post-578">
  
Line 6: Line 7:
 
<p>[[File:Ina_Caldera_09_14_06.jpg|Ina_Caldera_09_14_06.jpg]]<br />
 
<p>[[File:Ina_Caldera_09_14_06.jpg|Ina_Caldera_09_14_06.jpg]]<br />
 
<em>image by [mailto:starman2@charter.net Wes Higgins]</em></p>
 
<em>image by [mailto:starman2@charter.net Wes Higgins]</em></p>
<p>The [http://www.lpod.org/archive/archive/2004/05/LPOD-2004-05-22.htm Lunar 100] objects are arranged from easiest to most difficult to see. L100 is a swirl that is actually centered just around the east limb of the Moon, but the brightness extends our way and can be seen fairly often. [http://www.lpod.org/archive/LPOD-2004-12-13.htm L99], a volcanic depression named Ina, is much better placed for observation on the backslope of the Apennine Mountains. But its small size - about 3 km across, with an exceedingly shallow depth of 30 m -makes it nearly impossible to see from Earth. In fact, it was unknown until Apollo astronauts photographed it from lunar orbit. But now it has been imaged by amateur astronomer, imager extraordinaire Wes Higgins. This is one of the most difficult objects to see from Earth, but Wes has captured the characteristic D-shaped depression Ina, and even the suggestion that Ina is at the summit of a broad, low dome - see the slight curved brightening to the left. Ina was first called a caldera - a type of collapse crater that occurs on top of volcanoes. But Pete Schultz and Carle Pieters of Brown University think that it may be formed by gasses - perhaps radon - escaping from the Moon. Apollo&#8217;s super high resolution images reveal that the floor of Ina is filled with small delicate features that would have been destroyed by random micrometeorite cratering if the depression were older than a million years or so. And the amount of iron in Ina&#8217;s surface rocks is high, but it too would have been reduced by space weathering if Ina were not very young. Finally Apollo 17 astronauts noticed that Ina looks brighter through a blue filter, which may be a way for more amateur imagers to capture this elusive depression. </p>
+
<p>The [[May_22,_2004|Lunar 100]] objects are arranged from easiest to most difficult to see. L100 is a swirl that is actually centered just around the east limb of the Moon, but the brightness extends our way and can be seen fairly often. [[December_13,_2004|L99]], a volcanic depression named Ina, is much better placed for observation on the backslope of the Apennine Mountains. But its small size - about 3 km across, with an exceedingly shallow depth of 30 m -makes it nearly impossible to see from Earth. In fact, it was unknown until Apollo astronauts photographed it from lunar orbit. But now it has been imaged by amateur astronomer, imager extraordinaire Wes Higgins. This is one of the most difficult objects to see from Earth, but Wes has captured the characteristic D-shaped depression Ina, and even the suggestion that Ina is at the summit of a broad, low dome - see the slight curved brightening to the left. Ina was first called a caldera - a type of collapse crater that occurs on top of volcanoes. But Pete Schultz and Carle Pieters of Brown University think that it may be formed by gasses - perhaps radon - escaping from the Moon. Apollo&#8217;s super high resolution images reveal that the floor of Ina is filled with small delicate features that would have been destroyed by random micrometeorite cratering if the depression were older than a million years or so. And the amount of iron in Ina&#8217;s surface rocks is high, but it too would have been reduced by space weathering if Ina were not very young. Finally Apollo 17 astronauts noticed that Ina looks brighter through a blue filter, which may be a way for more amateur imagers to capture this elusive depression. </p>
 
<p>[mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Chuck Wood]</p>
 
<p>[mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Chuck Wood]</p>
 
<p><strong>Technical Details:</strong><br />
 
<p><strong>Technical Details:</strong><br />
Line 15: Line 16:
 
[http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/july01/Moons_last_gasps.html The Moon&#8217;s last gasps]<br />
 
[http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/july01/Moons_last_gasps.html The Moon&#8217;s last gasps]<br />
 
[http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunarplanet-2000-00b3.html A blue beacon]</p>
 
[http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunarplanet-2000-00b3.html A blue beacon]</p>
<p align="center"><em>Now you can support LPOD when you buy ANY book from Amazon thru [http://www.lpod.org/?page_id=102  LPOD!]</em></p>
+
<p><b>Yesterday's LPOD:</b> [[September 26, 2006|Steep Places on the Moon]] </p>
 +
<p><b>Tomorrow's LPOD:</b> [[September 28, 2006|Smart-1 Crater not Observed]] </p>
 +
<!-- Removed reference to store page 2 -->
 
</div>
 
</div>
----
+
<!-- End of content -->
===COMMENTS?===
+
{{wiki/ArticleFooter}}
Register, and click on the <b>Discussion</b> tab at the top of the page.
 

Latest revision as of 23:40, 8 February 2015

L99 Captured!

Ina_Caldera_09_14_06.jpg
image by Wes Higgins

The Lunar 100 objects are arranged from easiest to most difficult to see. L100 is a swirl that is actually centered just around the east limb of the Moon, but the brightness extends our way and can be seen fairly often. L99, a volcanic depression named Ina, is much better placed for observation on the backslope of the Apennine Mountains. But its small size - about 3 km across, with an exceedingly shallow depth of 30 m -makes it nearly impossible to see from Earth. In fact, it was unknown until Apollo astronauts photographed it from lunar orbit. But now it has been imaged by amateur astronomer, imager extraordinaire Wes Higgins. This is one of the most difficult objects to see from Earth, but Wes has captured the characteristic D-shaped depression Ina, and even the suggestion that Ina is at the summit of a broad, low dome - see the slight curved brightening to the left. Ina was first called a caldera - a type of collapse crater that occurs on top of volcanoes. But Pete Schultz and Carle Pieters of Brown University think that it may be formed by gasses - perhaps radon - escaping from the Moon. Apollo’s super high resolution images reveal that the floor of Ina is filled with small delicate features that would have been destroyed by random micrometeorite cratering if the depression were older than a million years or so. And the amount of iron in Ina’s surface rocks is high, but it too would have been reduced by space weathering if Ina were not very young. Finally Apollo 17 astronauts noticed that Ina looks brighter through a blue filter, which may be a way for more amateur imagers to capture this elusive depression.

Chuck Wood

Technical Details:
September 14, 2006, 18″ Starmaster reflector, 4x Powermate, Infinity 2-1M camera, stack of 360 frames.

Related Links:
Rükl plate 22
Wes’ website
The Moon’s last gasps
A blue beacon

Yesterday's LPOD: Steep Places on the Moon

Tomorrow's LPOD: Smart-1 Crater not Observed


COMMENTS?

Register, Log in, and join in the comments.